Book vending machine arrives at Orchards C of E Academy in Wisbech to reward children’s progress

Snacks and drinks can’t be found in the primary school’s vending machine. Instead, children can select a book of their fancy.

The book vending machine has been introduced at Orchards C of E Academy in Wisbech thanks to funding provided by the Elizabeth Wright Foundation.

The machine was delivered to the school last week and has been fully stocked up ready for the children to use. Some of the books have even by signed by the author.

Pupils will receive tokens for work they do in class to choose a book from the machine as a reward for their progress in school.

Head teacher Sarah Cullen said: “At Orchards we are committed to the teaching of reading.

“We recognise the importance of improving reading standards on a child's future academic achievement, well-being and success in life.

“We actively encourage children to have fun with their reading, enjoy the adventures of the characters, experience and imagine the different settings, laugh and cry through the words on the page.

“We share ambitious, exciting texts from a wide range of genres, through our teaching of reading and reading for pleasure throughout the school day.”

The school was looking for new ways to reward the children for their hard work. It was English lead Katie Crawley’s idea to get the book vending machine.